


Need a Helping Hand

by killerweasel



Category: The Lego Movie
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-01
Updated: 2014-05-04
Packaged: 2018-01-21 12:41:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1550843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerweasel/pseuds/killerweasel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one's seen Bad Cop in a month and Benny is concerned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Title: Need a Helping Hand  
Fandom: The Lego Movie  
Characters: Benny the Spaceman, Bad Cop, Good Cop, Unikitty  
Word Count: 1,773  
Rating: G  
A/N: AU after The Lego Movie  
Warnings: n/a  
Summary: No one's seen Bad Cop in a month and Benny is concerned.

“Hello? Is anyone home?” Benny stuck his head into the dark apartment. The smell coming from inside was almost enough to make him gag. “Good Cop? Bad Cop? Anyone?”

“What are you doing in here?”

The voice came from the couch in the middle of the room. Benny came inside, closing the door behind him. “I didn’t see you at the dedication ceremony for the Freedom Friday plaque. When I checked around, I found out that nobody had seen you for almost a month. I was worried, so I thought I drop by. The door was unlocked.”

Bad Cop sat up with a groan. “You’ve seen me. Now you can go away.”

“This place is a mess.” Benny made a face. He went over to the window, pulled the blinds up, and then opened the window to let some fresh air in. “Are you hiding?”

Bad Cop hissed as sunlight poured through the window. “Maybe I like it being messy.” He glared at Benny. “I believe I told you to go away. You’re still here.”

Benny turned in a circle, looking at the empty food containers which seemed to be on every available surface. “I’ll leave after I clean a little. I don’t like the idea of you drowning in your own trash.” He went into the kitchen and grabbed a trash bag. Then he started throwing some of the garbage into it. He picked up a pizza box from the coffee table. “I think this has been here long enough to sprout legs and start walking around.”

"I don't need you to clean my apartment for me." Bad Cop grabbed the other half of the pizza box Benny was holding and tried to yank it away. "Leave it and me alone."

Benny narrowed his eyes as he tightened his grip. "I think someone needs to help you because you are doing a horrible job at helping yourself. Let go before you get hurt."

"Are you threatening me?" Bad Cop's eyebrows shot up. "I could kick your butt with both hands tied behind my back."

"You really want to do it like this? Fine."

Benny bent his knees before launching himself up into the air, dragging Bad Cop with him. Bad Cop was a foot off the ground before the pizza box tore under his weight, sending him tumbling to the floor. A moldy piece of pizza landed on his head with disgusting splat.

"Ow." Bad Cop rubbed his back. "Floating in the air is cheating."

"Whatever." Benny landed next to Bad Cop. "I'll get some ice for your back and then you are going to stay on the couch while I get all of this junk out of here. This place smells like the inside of my helmet after I got sick on the centrifuge."

"I don't understand why you're doing this. I captured your friends. I did horrible things." Bad Cop curled up on the couch with an ice pack on his sore back. "You shouldn't be nice to me."

"I'm nice to everyone." Benny made a face as he picked up a plate with something fuzzy growing on it. He twisted it from side to side, trying to figure out what the food used to be. When he still couldn't decide if it was part of a sandwich or pasta, Benny added the entire plate to his bag of trash. "I think you could use someone to talk to. Space isn't the only place that can be lonely. I'm good at listening. I was on the space station by myself for almost three months and all I did was listen to the radio."

Bad Cop was quiet for a few minutes. When he spoke again, his voice was softer than normal. "I'm not usually the one people want to talk to. That was Good Cop and he hasn't... he hasn't fully recovered from what happened. You saw how he looked before. I tried to fix him, tried to repair the damage. It wasn’t enough."

Benny tossed one more empty pizza box into the trash and tied the bag shut. He put the bag by the door and then sat down on the floor next to Bad Cop. "You did the best you could considering the circumstances. At least he's still with you, right? You tried. That's more than some people do."

"When I was in the field, either on the job or specifically doing something for Lord Business, I never let anything bother me. I kept telling myself I was just following orders like any good officer. What I was doing was going to help restore things back the way they should be. Somewhere along the line, the looks people gave me changed from respect to fear." Bad Cop shifted the ice pack down to his hip, hissing a little as the cold began to seep into another bruise.

Taking his helmet off, Benny set it beside him on the floor. He ran his hand through his hair, causing it to stand on end. "I was at one of your early raids, before everything got really bad. I don't think I was afraid, not yet, but I couldn't understand what we were doing that was so wrong." He leaned his head back on the couch and gave Bad Cop a look. "I saw you change a table into a barricade to block the front door. Emmet told me you transformed your police car into one that was capable of flight."

Bad Cop flinched. "I tried to keep my building abilities hidden. If Lord Business had found out I was one of you, I don't know what he would have done."

"He would have used you as long as he could and then stuck you in the Think Tank with the rest of us." Benny sighed. "Look, none of us came out of this mess unscathed. You've admitted the things you did were wrong. That doesn't exactly balance things out, but it's a start. I think if you went outside and wandered through Bricksberg now, you would see how different everything is. I'll walk around with you."

"I can't go out there." Bad Cop tossed the ice pack onto the floor. "People will see me and they'll remember what I've done. I can't deal with that."

"You're on leave from the force, right?" Bad Cop nodded. "Then you go out in regular clothes, maybe put on a hat. If it helps, you can think of it as going on an undercover mission. You need to see the good that came from all this. You might have been part of the bad, but when it came down to the wire, you were with us and not against us. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, go get cleaned up, and come with me."

"Are you going to wander around dressed like that?" Bad Cop sat up slowly. "You'll stand out in a spacesuit."

"I can be undercover too, if you want. Plus, it'll help keep me on the ground." Benny smiled. "We can take it slow and if you get overwhelmed or you change your mind, we'll come back. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

\---

Bad Cop slouched over his milkshake as he drank from the straw. He felt almost naked without his uniform on. Benny was sitting across from him, blowing bubbles in a glass of chocolate milk. The spaceman looked odd wearing a t-shirt and jeans. "Cut that out. You're making a mess, Benny."

Benny wiped up some of the spilled milk with a napkin. "How's the milkshake? They make the best ones here. It's the perfect mix of ice cream and milk."

"It's good." It might have been the best one Bad Cop had ever had. "Everyone seems happier. More people are ignoring the instructions and doing their own thing. While they aren't Master Builders, they're still being creative. I saw a woman driving a car shaped like a cat. She wouldn't have done that before."

"Exactly." Benny pointed his straw at Bad Cop. "Things are different. You helped do this."

"What do I do now? I can't be what I was." He started to shred the paper napkin by his plate. "It'll be a while before anyone would think about trusting me to protect them."

"I've got a suggestion, and you can totally say no, but I think it would help." Benny leaned forward. "The Master Builders are going to start to rebuild Cloud Cuckoo Land this weekend. We could always use another pair of hands."

Bad Cop blinked. "Are you serious? I personally arrested the majority of those people, not to mention I helped destroy Cloud Cuckoo Land. They won't want me there, Benny."

"I want you there." Benny sat up. "Yes, many of them will probably be angry and ask that you leave. They'll be justified in doing so. If you show them that you're trying to help, that you want to balance out the bad things you've done, then maybe it won't be so bad. We could go talk to Unikitty together. If she allows you to assist in rebuilding, the others will just have to deal. It's her kingdom."

“Why are you helping me like this? You don’t even know me.” Bad Cop fought the urge to throw a chair across the room. He settled for wadding up all the napkin shreds into a ball.

“I’ve been around for a really long time. I’ve seen and done things no one else has. There are reasons I’m not up in the space station right now. Maybe some day I’ll tell you about it.” He shrugged. “You’re going to have to deal with backlash. Eventually people forget about things. Maybe not the ones who were personally involved, but the rest will find other things to focus on.” Benny smiled at Bad Cop. “I thought maybe you could use a friend.”

Bad Cop stared at Benny for a moment. “You mean that.” It wasn’t a question, but Benny nodded anyway. “I don’t have friends.” Good Cop was the one who made friends with people. He was the nice one, the one who always had a smile on his face, and the one that people liked. For the first time in a week, he felt Good Cop stir at the back of his mind. _He wants to be friends with **you** , not me. I like him. He’s nice and he’s trying to help._ “I’ll think about it, Benny.”

“Awesome.” Benny stood up. “Do you want to meet with Unikitty?”

Tossing money on the table to cover the bill and a tip, Bad Cop nodded. “I guess it’s worth a shot. Lead the way.”

\---


	2. Chapter 2

"This is where Unikitty's staying until Cloud Cuckoo Land is rebuilt." They stopped in front of pink and purple house that was so glittery it could be used as a giant disco ball. The bushes and shrubs in front of it were cut into unusual shapes. Benny rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you want me to come in with you?"

"Thanks, but this is something I need to do by myself." He patted Benny on the shoulder. "Hopefully this won't take too long."

"I'll just sit here and wait, then." Benny plopped down on the top step of the porch. "If you need me, just holler."

Bad Cop nodded before knocking on the front door. He heard Unikitty yell that the door was open. Taking a deep breath, he twisted the doorknob and stepped inside.

The inside of the house was just as sparkly as the outside. Bad Cop was glad he was wearing his sunglasses. He looked around at the odd art decorating the walls. "Unikitty?"

"I'm in the living room. Down the front hall, first room on the left."

Before Bad Cop had even opened his mouth, Unikitty was up and moving in his direction. "You? What are you doing in my house? How dare you come here!"

"I wanted to assist in the rebuilding of Cloud Cuckoo Land." He jerked backward at the noise Unikitty made. Bad Cop remembered how easily an angry Unikitty destroyed dozens of Micro Mangers. There had barely been enough pieces left to figure out what they'd used to be. As she closed in on him, her colors started to shift from pinks and white to reds and oranges. The last time he'd been this frightened was when he'd lost his other half. He never should have come here. He should have just stayed locked away in his apartment.

He took a step backward and managed to trip on his own feet. He fell to the floor with a thud, smacking the back of his head on the carpet. Bad Cop felt his other half stir beneath the surface. "No, you're not strong enough for this. Stay put!" His words caused Unikitty to come to a halt, looking confused. He ignored her, concentrating on Good Cop. "I can't protect you from inside, darn it."

 _It'll be okay. I promise._ Good Cop came out, blinking in the bright lights of the room. He hadn't been out since the events of Taco Tuesday, most of which had been his decision. His scribbled eyes were nowhere near as good as his old ones. One of them was higher than the other, which made everything seem a bit off. He got to his feet slowly, stumbling a little until he found his balance.

He wasn't sure if the expression on Unikitty's face was pity or horror and he didn't really care. Good Cop gave her his best smile. "How about you stay right where you are and not come any closer? You've scared him enough that I needed to come out." His voice sounded odd to his ears. "I think I'll have this chat with you instead."

"He destroyed everything I had." Unikitty paced back and forth along the floor, but didn't come any closer. "And now he wants to fix it, like he's one of the good guys? What a load of baloney."

"In case you forgot, we helped put a stop to what Lord Business was doing at the end there." He scratched his head. "I won't excuse our behavior. We followed orders. We did what we were told. Was it the right thing to do? No. But it was our job."

"I still think you should be punished for the things you did. Even though not everyone agrees with me, there are enough of us to who want to do something about it." She glared at Good Cop.

He glared back. "You have no idea what we went through." _Don't tell her. She's not going to care. She could use it against us._ "Do you know who was Kragled first?" 

"What are you talking about?"

"Lord Business had our parents." Unikitty went still. "It was going to be them or us. When I refused to hurt them, Lord Business had me erased." Good Cop's voice was growing louder with each word and he found himself moving closer to the invisible line on the ground. "Lord Business wiped me away! Bad Cop was alone. He was alone and he didn't know what else to do. He... had to Kragle our parents. He had to push the button."

 _I didn't want to do it. I was afraid he'd erase me too. You know that, right? I'd already lost you, I couldn't lose myself. Mummy and Daddy understood. They knew. I could see it._

"Yes, he destroyed your home and your kingdom and arrested your friends. He was following orders. He followed orders and I still got erased." Good Cop's feet were touching the invisible line. "Then Lord Business decided Bad Cop wasn't needed any longer."

_I did everything he told me to do, all of it. And he just left me there._

"I..." Unikitty looked horrified. "I didn't know."

"Do you still think he needs to be punished?" Good Cop started to slump over. Unikitty managed to get her body underneath his to keep him semi-upright. "Sorry. I still haven't fully recovered. I'm going to switch back."

The switch was almost as painless as it used to be. Bad Cop could feel how worn out and exhausted Good Cop was. _I think that'll help things._ Bad Cop stood up with a groan. "I would like to rebuild what I helped ruin."

Unikitty was quiet for a few minutes. "We need more Master Builders." She tilted her head. "How exactly can you help?"

Bad Cop walked over to the couch. He slowly changed it into a larger, glittery version of the chairs he kept in the interrogation room. "I find that kicking a chair helps to get rid of anger. Then you don't have to keep it bottled up until you explode." He pushed the chair forward. "You should give it a shot."

Unikitty circled the chair a couple of times. "I didn't know you were one of us." She kicked the chair, sending it across the room. "That was more enjoyable than I was expecting." Unikitty chased after the chair. She gave it another kick, this time hard enough to knock some pieces loose. "If you want to come this weekend, you may. Just keep in mind the others might not be thrilled with you being there."

Bad Cop's lips curled up in the ghost of a smile. "About what Good Cop said..."

"That doesn't leave this room." Unikitty kicked the chair up into the ceiling, sending bricks everywhere. "I won't mention it to anyone."

"Thank you."

\---

Benny was still waiting on the front steps. He bounced to his feet. "You were in there for a very long time. I started to worry. Are you okay?"

"No, but I will be." Bad Cop walked with Benny down the street. "Looks like I'll be building with you."

"Awesome!" Benny's smile was almost blinding. "If you want to practice, we could go to my place. I'll show you how to make a spaceship."

"I'd like that very much, Benny."


End file.
